Once again, the monks found themselves facing Jack Spicer and Chase Young.

Once again, Jack and Chase found themselves facing off against everyone.

“Back to the beginning, eh, Spicer?” Chase taunted Jack.

“Or, for once, you could do something that actually made sense,” Jack sniped back. “Like working together to defeat the Xiaolin clowns.”

“You have four Favors due,” Chase reminded him.

“Again: my decision on my time, not yours!”

Raimundo leaned over to his friends and muttered, “Lover’s spat?”

“Ewwwwwwwwww,” groaned Kimiko. “Please don’t even go there.”

Clay snorted. “Ah don’t reckon Chase’s got what it takes to even get there himself.”

Omi
was silent for a moment. Then he said, “But if I am right, and his Good
chi is still present within him, then perhaps love is the very thing
that will deliver him from the Evil and back to our side!”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

The monks flinched and then assumed their defensive stance again at Chase’s irritated growl.

“I am not interested in children,” Chase continued. “What I am interested in is stopping the lot of you from succeeding.”

“Better luck next time,” sneered Jack, and he sprinted towards the rock outcropping in the mine that held the Crystal Dragon.

Chase was after him like a shot, teeth bared; intent on beating the youth into submission if he had to.

The
Xiaolin monks burst into action as well. Raimundo, being the closest,
went after the Crystal Dragon while Clay, Kimiko, and Omi moved to
intercept the two evildoers.

Omi and Clay went after Chase while Kimiko went after Jack, figuring that the pathetic wimp would be easy to take down.

Which
is why she was so shocked when Jack fell backwards to evade her attack,
leaving her off balance and surprisingly vulnerable to the
straight-shot punch Jack slammed forward into her stomach. She went
sailing backwards, breathless from the hit, and crashed into Omi just
as the smaller monk was about to kick Chase’s legs out from under him.

“Hey! C’mon, now!” Clay yelled, his Texan etiquette rearing up at the sight of a girl being hit.

A
moment later, he had himself to worry about as Chase turned his
attention upon the cowboy. With a few deft moves, Chase had Clay flying
backwards to slam into the crystal mine walls with a teeth-rattling
thud.

Raimundo, who had been so surprised at seeing Jack fight
back, blinked and shook himself, then turned and lunged for the Crystal
Dragon, closing his hands around the Shen-Gong-Wu with a triumphant
shout.

Only to find Jack’s hands also latched onto the Crystal Dragon.

Red eyes glared into green and Jack growled, “I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown, Raimundo.”

Raimundo
was startled at the focused intensity Jack displayed, but hid his
surprise. Instead, he grinned cockily and said, “Fine. First to locate
the Crystal Dragon in the crystal mine wins; my Sword of the Storm
against your Golden Back Scratcher.”

Jack smirked and brought out the Silk Spinner. “Don’t have it on me; this is it.”

The other monks grumbled and Raimundo glowered.

“Fine,” said the Dragon of the Wind shortly. “My Sword of the Storm against your Silk Spinner.”

“Deal,” replied Jack.

Together, they shouted, “Let’s Go – Xiaolin Showdown!”

The
other monks and Chase got out of the way as the crystal mine morphed
around them all in a burst of magic. The rock of the tunnel disappeared
and everything became made of crystal as the tunnel changed
into a gigantic cavernous fun-house type of setting with crystal panels
and jutting spikes and recessed alcoves everywhere.

Everyone’s
reflections were multiplied a million times over in the crystal cavern.
The three monks and Chase stood on the sidelines, watching as Raimundo
and Jack faced each other to yell: “Gong Yi Tampai!”

Instantly, Raimundo began twirling his Shen-Gong-Wu, calling out, “Sword of the Storm!”

Jack
fired a strand of webbing up at a crystal stalactite and allowed the
gust of wind from Raimundo’s attack to sling him towards a nearby
crystal outcropping, using the Silk Spinner’s webbing as a means of
anchoring himself in place. Rather than fight back, however, Jack
pulled a tuning fork out of one of his pockets.

Chase raised an
eyebrow. Spicer seemed to be prepared for this adventure; planning
ahead by accurately deducing that crystal would most likely be the
medium in use during a Showdown. It seemed to Chase that Jack was
actually becoming a source of decent competition.

Jack used the
tuning fork to strike a chime in the outcropping he was pressed up
against and then put his ear close to the crystal. He was trying to
listen for a thrum that meant that the sound waves being conducted
through the crystal had hit an obstruction.

Raimundo bared his
teeth in a snarl and pushed harder with his wind powers, trying to
dislodge Jack. He could barely hear his friends’ yells of encouragement
over the roar of the wind in the cavern, but he stayed focus on his
objective: disabling Jack. He figured if he could knock Spicer loopy,
then he’d have plenty of time to look for the Crystal Dragon.

Jack
hung onto the Silk Spinner and the tuning fork with all his might. He
struck the crystal again and again in different spots, allowing the
wind to move him a few inches up, down, and sideways. Finally, just
when he was about to give up on that location and let Raimundo blow him
further away, he heard the thrum of connection.

“Hah! Yeah!”
Jack crowed. He put away the tuning fork and then released the current
thread of webbing the Silk Spinner had going and let the wind blow him
in the direction of the thrum.

That proved to be his mistake.

Just
before he would have slammed into the crystal wall – an action he was
prepared for – he heard a noise behind him and looked over his shoulder
to see Raimundo heading towards him at a high rate of speed with one
foot leading the way.

Jack tried to twist out of the way, but it
was too late. With the force of a locomotive, Raimundo slammed into him
foot first; a powerful kick that sent him flying even harder against
the crystal wall. Dazed and in pain, Jack went limp and the wind swept
him away to the other end of the cavern.

Raimundo landed before
the crystal wall that Jack had locked on to and let his wind powers
fade out. Grinning, he set his stance, and then let out a sharp yell as
he brought his left foot up and forward in a tremendously powerful
front snap-kick.

The crystal wall in front of him shattered into jagged, sparkling chunks. Revealed within the block was the Crystal Dragon.

Triumphantly, Raimundo reached in and grabbed hold of it.

The
instant he did so, the crystal cavern reverted to being a crystal mine
again; complete with rock tunnels and limited visibility.

Which was why Raimundo never saw Chase Young until it was too late.

Just
as the Dragon of the Wind turned to crow to his friends, who were
running towards him, a force that felt like a rushing Great White Shark
connected with his left side and sent him crashing into a nearby rock
wall.

Clay, Kimiko, and Omi gaped at the sight of their crumpled
friend and then they turned to glower fiercely at Chase Young, who held
the Crystal Dragon in one hand with the other hand tucked behind his
back. The evil warlord had a wicked smirk on his face.

“When your friend wakes up, tell him I thank him for retrieving the Crystal Dragon for me,” Chase drawled.

Omi leaped forward, yelling in fury.

Before
he could connect, however, Chase teleported away, still holding the
Crystal Dragon; leaving Omi to land on an empty patch of rocky ground,
scowling.

Nearby, Jack groaned as he slowly rolled over onto his
right side and then pushed himself up onto his knees. He watched Clay
and Kimiko turn towards him while Omi went over to Raimundo.

“What happened?” he asked hoarsely.

“Rai beat you up,” Clay informed him with a satisfied grin.

“And then Chase Young beat up Rai and stole the Crystal Dragon!” spat Kimiko.

Getting up onto his feet carefully, Jack aimed a nasty grin at the Japanese girl as he replied, “Huh – go, Chase!”

“Why’re you so chipper?” demanded Clay. “Chase was fixin’ t’ tear you a new breathin’ hole, too!”

“Chase is always ready to hurt me, you inerudite ignoramus! But I’d rather see him succeed than you,” Jack growled and he turned on his heel and started walking away.

“What
did he call me?” he heard Clay mutter and Jack snickered to himself. He
wondered what kind of a fuss the cowboy would throw when he finally
went to look the words up in the thesaurus.~*~*~*~

Hours
later, Jack stood in front of his bathroom sink. He had his hands
braced on the black porcelain and his shoulders were hunched as he
tried to stretch the soreness out of his muscles. He had stripped naked
in preparation for a relaxing Epsom salt soak, but first he’d wanted to
see the damage inflicted on his pale skin.

Wrapping a towel
around his waist, he had then turned so his back was to the mirror over
the sink and used a hand-held mirror to see his reflection behind him.

At
the sight of the massive purple and black bruise spreading over most of
his back, especially around his ribs and shoulder-blades, Jack had
winced and then said some Very Bad Words in regards to his speculation
on Raimundo’s ancestry.

Now, facing forward again, Jack sighed
and turned on the tap to fill the sink with cool water. Bending, he
splashed water into his face, hoping the coolness of the water would
help ease the migraine he could feel coming on. When he was done, Jack
straightened up again to peer blearily into the mirror.

Only to be confronted with the image of Chase Young staring back at him; filling the mirror entirely with his visage.

Jack
yelped and went skittering backwards without looking, and consequently
ended up tripping over the edge of the big bathtub and splashing
backwards into the steaming water.

When he resurfaced,
sputtering, his sodden towel still knotted about his hips, Jack was
treated to the sound of Chase’s and Wuya’s uproarious laughter, though
Wuya was not visible in the mirror.

“What are you doing here?” Jack yelled angrily. “This is a naked place!”

Chase stopped laughing but he continued to grin wickedly. “Oh, bravo, Jack! What a performance! Too much of a splash upon entry in the water, however; you get a five-point-two for effort.”

Jack
climbed out of the tub and moved to stand in front of the sink again,
his towel shedding water the way a cat sheds fur – copiously.

Giving Chase a peevish look, he said, “I don’t know what your problem is – but I bet it’s hard to pronounce.”

Chase’s
grin widened. “I could almost start to like this new you, Spicer.
You’re much more entertaining than your previous pathetic self.”

“Be still my beating heart,” crabbed Jack. “What do you want?”

“I’m only checking in to see how you’re faring after the beating you took from Pedrosa,” Chase replied, raising an eyebrow.

It was Jack’s turn to wag his finger. “The last time you called me a child I made you kiss me. Keep it up and I may decide I need some serious snuggling.”

“Dirty pool,” Chase growled, his eyes narrowing with his anger.

Jack
grinned, then sighed and said, “Okay, you’ve checked up on me. Don’t
you have soup to be cooking and a monk to be stalking?”

“You’d know all about stalking, wouldn’t you, Spicer?”

“Sticks and stones, baby. I’d like to take my bath now. Hint, hint.”

“Considering that you typically smell like a landfill, I daresay it would be an improvement,” Chase snarked.

“Whatever. Don’t let the spying spell—“

“Communication spell.”

“—hit you on the way out,” Jack sneered and he turned away from the mirror.

There was a moment of silence, and Jack was almost certain he’d had his way, when he heard Chase’s voice drawl, “Pedrosa did walk all over you, didn’t he?”

Jack
whirled around, ready to shout obscenities, but the mirror held only
his own reflection; Chase had plainly gotten in the last word.

Sighing,
Jack went over to the tub and stripped off his sodden towel, allowing
it to splat to the tile floor. Then he climbed into the tub and sank
slowly into the soothing heat of the Epsom salt-filled bath and
wondering if being Evil was really worth it.

~*~*~*~

In Chase’s lair, the evil everlord watched Wuya stomping around the throne room, raging at the top of her lungs.

“That dirty, rotten, no-good, ill-mannered little wretch!” she screeched into the air, and then whirled to point a finger at Chase. “And you! How dare you let that moronic meat-puppet talk to me like that? I am older than either of you – surely that alone should grant me some respect!”

“Admitting your age, Wuya? Tsk,” Chase drawled from where he sat on his ornate throne. “Mind your tongue, woman – Spicer is correct when he says I do not have to allow you to stay here; at least in your present form. Or would you prefer to join the ranks of my cats?”

Wuya bared her fangs at him in a wordless snarl.

Chase sighed and said, “Rather than ranting about the childish taunting of – surprisingly enough – a child, you might consider being pleased that we have successfully captured the Crystal Dragon.”

The
witch paused for a moment, considering, and then smiled nastily.
“Yesssssssss,” she hissed darkly. “The Crystal Dragon – capable of
growing large enough to carry a rider, its’ power can transform entire
cities to pure crystal if its’ rider chooses! From the air, one would
be unstoppable!”

“True enough – but the Crystal Dragon is
uncontrollable without the Silver Bridle to harness the creature,”
supplied Chase. “We will simply have to wait for it to reveal itself.
The time when it will do so should be soon – sister Shen-Gong-Wu rarely
wait terribly long in between revelations.”

“True,” agreed Wuya, who then scowled and added, “And once we have the Silver Bridle and the Crystal Dragon is under our control, the first target I want eliminated is that mouthy little Mama’s Boy – Jack Spicer!”

“I
would prefer to wait until Spicer finishes certain projects before I
eliminate him,” Chase said pensively. “Once I have what I want, I will
allow you to do the honors.”

Wuya walked over to Chase and
reached out to trail a finger down one smooth, eternally young cheek,
and simpered as she said, “You’re too good to me, Chase.”

“I
know,” he agreed, lightly smacking her hand away from him. Her touch
made his skin crawl. “Now leave me – I have plans to make.”

Wuya
bowed her head, acknowledging his order, and quietly left the throne
room. As she walked down a corridor towards the suite he had given to
her, she smirked wickedly to herself. It suited her to play the
acquiescent courtier for now – but the day would come when Chase Young and the entire world would be kneeling in servitude to her.

It was only a matter of time.

~*~*~*~

Chase
teleported into Jack's Evil Lair, intent on talking with Spicer about
the Favors he owed the boy. Chase Young was an Evil Everlord – he had
things to do other than pander to a weird pale-faced boy with
delusions of grandeur! He’d have discussed it earlier with Jack, but
the boy had aggravated him enough to get him off course and so he
hadn’t gotten around to it; another moment of irritation brought to him
courtesy of Jack Spicer.

Turning, he spied Jack slumped over his
computer console, clearly asleep. Walking over to the inert figure, he
started to snarl, "Alright, Spicer—“ only to shut up when he read the
information on the screen.

Glancing
down at the snoring figure in the chair, he noted the soft bruises
shading the skin around Jack's eyes – what could be seen of it through
the eyeliner the boy insisted on wearing. It was obvious that after his
bath, Jack had been hard at work on the cloning project; doing that on
top of having gone through a Xiaolin Showdown and getting himself bruised from neck to buttocks by the Dragon of the Wind.

Chase sighed. While he did
want Jack to finish the Favors quickly, he realized that in Jack's
current condition, the boy would probably not make any coherent
requests. Better to wait until Spicer was fully rested and then take
this up with him again.

Leaning over the console, Chase entered
the "yes" command to the question the screen had been asking. While the
data processing went on, Chase turned to Jack.

Gently pulling
the boy upright, he then bent and slipped an arm under Jack's knees and
another around his back, and then stood straight; cradling the youth
against his chest.

Jack's head flopped over to land with a thump
against his shoulder armor. The impact was enough to make him lift his
head and open his eyes a little bit, looking blearily around for a
moment before focusing on Chase's jaw.

"Go back to sleep," Chase murmured softly. "You're safe; I have you."

"Mmmmph,"
Jack agreed, and laid his head down, nestling into the crook where
Chase's neck met his right shoulder. Jack's right arm came up, fumbling
for a moment, and then hooked around Chase's neck as Jack slid back
into sleep.

Using his honed prowess at perfect balance, Chase
walked silently and swiftly up the stairs that led out of Jack's Evil
Lair and into the house proper, never once jarring the sleeping form.
He unerringly located Jack's room and braced the boy against his chest
so he could free one hand to open the door; slipping quietly inside
when he'd done so.

He carried Jack over to the nearby bed and
drew back the covers, then eased the boy down onto the mattress. Chase
slipped the strange goggles Jack liked to wear off of the youth's head
and hung them from the nearest bedpost. He was about to pull back when
he noticed that Jack's eyes were open again.

"Chase..." Jack whispered, slurring the name slightly.

"I'm only a dream," Chase replied, reaching down to stroke Jack's hair back from his face. "Only a dream, Spicer."

Chase
paused as he looked down at the unguarded features reposed in slumber.
Glancing downwards, he waved his hand and his magic caused Jack's boots
to dematerialize off of his feet and onto the floor by his bed.
Sweeping his hand upward, Chase magicked Jack's coat and the heli-bot
off of him as well, and then he drew the covers up to Jack's chin.

He
started to leave, then paused again. Then, with a hint of a smirk, he
leaned down and lightly – oh, so lightly – touched his lips to Jack's.

He
stayed that way for several seconds, simply pressing his lips to Jack's
and sharing breath with the boy; knowing that Jack’s subconscious mind
would be aware of this action; knowing that it would really screw with his mind.

Then
he pulled away, straightened up, and left the room to go back down to
the Evil Lair, where he discovered the data processing had finished
itself. He set the computer into sleeper mode and made for home.